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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29799615">Next Time, Choose a Better Superhero</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtinator/pseuds/courtinator'>courtinator</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Next Time... [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Avengers Tower, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt Bruce Banner, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt/Comfort, Missions, Missions Gone Wrong, Napping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Cuddling, Protective Steve Rogers, Slow Burn, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Torture</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:48:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,941</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29799615</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtinator/pseuds/courtinator</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone tries to adjust to having a new person living in the tower and possibly added to the Avengers team.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Avengers Team &amp; Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers &amp; Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Next Time... [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190294</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Celia straightened out her tank top, standing in front of the mirror in her bathroom.  Even after a week of it being official, it still felt weird to refer to it as such.  The week had kind of gone by in a blur though, after her little stunt with the nail.  That had sure threw everyone for a loop.  Bruce had immediately whisked her away to his lab, eager to do tests and get readings now that it was confirmed that the incident in the elevator had changed her in more ways than they thought.  All of her vitals came back normal, like they had before.  He was currently coming up with new ways to test her.</p>
<p>After a little convincing from Steve and Tony, she had given up her old apartment.  It wasn’t that big of a hassle, since she had worked out a deal with the landlord to let her have a revolving door of temporary, unofficial roommates and sign paperwork under a false name.  She used her professional trade to barter favors.  And she lined up a new renter to take her place.</p>
<p>So she ended up moving into the room on Steve’s floor.  Celia had been adamant that she couldn’t accept her own private floor and Steve seemed happy enough to keep her close by.  Tony had been equally as adamant that he buy her all new furniture, instead of her bringing her own.  Something about her lower quality items bringing down the property value of his tower.  Steve had yelled at him for being so rude, but later came to her to tell her that was just Tony’s way.  He liked to downplay his charity by seeming overly brusque.  She’d agreed to it, uncomfortable with all the money being spent, but happy she could give her old things to someone who would need it.  The only things she ended up bringing with her from her apartment were clothes.</p>
<p>The bed Tony insisted on ordering was having a shipping issue, since it had to be a specific mattress from some obscure town in Europe, so Celia had been stuck sharing with Steve this whole time.  Not that she completely minded, but she always offered to take the couch instead.  Steve always declined, ever the gentleman, and when he asked Tony why they couldn’t use one of the extra beds from his floor, he always was called away by an emergency before he answered.  Celia didn’t know what Tony was playing at, but she decided to let it go.  She had bigger things to worry about.  Like what she was about to do next.</p>
<p>Enhanced reflexes were one thing, but that was only one advantage Steve had gained from the serum.  Her upcoming session in the gym with Clint and Natasha was going to help them find out if any of Steve’s other gifts had been passed down to her.  They hadn’t told her what they had planned, only to come in her best workout gear.  Celia was not looking forward to their reactions when they saw her worn gym clothes and sneakers.  She hadn’t had a billionaire backer as long as they had.</p>
<p>The sound of a blender drew her out of her room, slowly wandering to the kitchen.  Steve and she had gotten into a good rhythm of cooking meals together most days, typically Celia doing most of the work and Steve helping where he could.  She still felt weird joining the team for meals, but she needed to get over that soon.  She didn’t want to make Steve think he had to stay on his floor more than usual just because she was there.</p>
<p>“Perfect timing,” Steve said, switching off the appliance.  “I raided Bruce’s kitchen and got some stuff to make smoothies.  I figured it would be a good breakfast before your session with Natasha and Clint.”</p>
<p>“That’s so sweet of you,” Celia said, letting her eyes wander over the mess of cut up fruits and vegetables all over the counter, before stopping on the very green results of his work sitting in the blender.  “It looks very healthy.”  They had gotten into a nice rhythm once all the drama with Shield and her past had been dealt with.  It was easy to relax around someone when you saw them at their post sleep rumpled worst.  That wasn’t to say they didn’t still have their awkward moments, like when Celia woke up somehow completely on top of Steve, or when he walked into her room while she was dripping in a towel post shower.  They were able to laugh it off though.  A little embarrassment was better than the weird guilt competition that defined their relationship before.</p>
<p>“I wasn’t sure what to put in it, so I went with everything,” Steve grinned, pouring a thick serving in a glass.  Celia accepted it graciously, bracing herself before taking a sip.  Any intestinal issues that came from this could be taken care of with a quick nap.  She took a drink, immediately suppressing her gag reflex as soon as the taste hit her.  Steve took a drink at the same time, covering his mouth with his hand as he coughed.  Celia choked her mouthful down, gently placing her glass back on the counter.</p>
<p>“Not your best work,” she said with a grimace, hiding her smile at his forlorn face.</p>
<p>“I don’t know where I went wrong,” Steve mumbled, looking around at all of his ingredients.</p>
<p>“If my tastebuds are correct, the onion probably had something to do with it,” Celia giggled, picking up her glass to take another drink.  It wasn’t unbearably bad.  Maybe if she just drank it really fast?</p>
<p>“Gah, don’t do it!”  Steve said, snatching her glass and dumping it along with his own before she could protest.  She hated wasting anything.  “I probably made you sick.  Maybe you should wait a while longer before going to train.”  Celia sighed, recognizing how apprehensive Steve was about this.  It wasn’t like she was heading straight into a life or death battle.</p>
<p>“I feel fine,” Celia assured him, rolling her eyes.</p>
<p>“Are you sure?  You can wait a little longer if you’re not ready.”</p>
<p>“Are you gonna write me a note to get me out of class?”  Celia teased, sighing when her lighthearted comment didn’t loosen him up.</p>
<p>“I’m serious, you don’t have to do this,” Steve insisted.  Celia walked around the counter to stand next to Steve, bumping his arm with her shoulder.</p>
<p>“I know, but I want to.  I need to find out how far this goes.  You know how much I hate the anticipation and being in limbo,” Celia said, tipping her head to the side to catch his eye.  “And I’m kind of tired of Clint throwing marbles at me.”  That finally got a smile out of him, Steve groaning as he was reminded of Clint’s antics.</p>
<p>“I still don’t know where he gets all of them,” Steve huffed, shaking his head.</p>
<p>“I don’t know, but I have a bucket of them stashed away for when I exact my revenge.  I’ve got a whole Home Alone thing planned out,” Celia grinned devilishly.</p>
<p>“Oh, you need me to leave for it?”  Steve asked, furrowing his brow.</p>
<p>“Jarvis, add the first two Home Alone movies to our Education of Steve list,” Celia directed, shaking her head at her clueless roommate.  She’d started the list a few days ago when she found out Steve hadn’t heard of The Brady Bunch before.  She was slowly filling it up with things to show him and places to take him.  Somehow he still hadn’t been to a Mcdonald’s, so that trip was planned for later in the week.</p>
<p>“And these are movies about marbles?”  Steve asked, shaking his head.  “Doesn’t sound very interesting.”</p>
<p>“You’ll understand once you’ve seen them,” Celia assured, somber mood officially lightened.  Now she just had to get out of here before Steve came up with another reason for her to stay.  “Try not to make anything too inedible for lunch.”</p>
<p>“Ha ha!”  Steve called after her as she trotted to the elevator.  As much as she wanted to convince Steve that this was going to go well, she was nervous.  Celia knew she had to prove herself so the team didn’t see her as a waste of time.  She didn’t think Tony would rescind his offer of having her work and live in the tower, but being good in this way too would help secure her spot even further.  And it would probably help her find her footing with the rest of the team.  They were all friendly enough, but still very intimidating.</p>
<p>“Jarvis, to the gym please,” Celia directed, finally finding a bit of a flow with the computer man.  He still freaked her out when he spoke out of nowhere, but she was getting better at hiding her reactions.  A male voice sneaking up on her would probably always be a trigger, but once she got used to his tone, it would ease up.</p>
<p>Clint and Natasha were waiting for her when she got to the gym, looking focused and severe in a way they hadn’t since she met them.  This was not going to be like one of those aerobics class videos she’d watched sometimes.</p>
<p>“Hey guys,” she greeted lightly, letting her smile slide away when it wasn’t returned.  The marbles weren’t looking too bad right about now.</p>
<p>“Are you ready to get down to business?  Because we aren’t here to play games,” Natasha asked roughly, sizing her up.</p>
<p>“Of course,” Celia insisted, stepping forward to stand in front of them.  She was ready for this.</p>
<p>“What does your current workout routine look like?”  Clint asked, all traces of the usually playful man gone.</p>
<p>“I try to get an hour on the elliptical a few times a week,” Celia answered, feeling immediately embarrassed by their blank stares.  “I’m sorry.”  If she’d known she was going to be in this situation, she would’ve stepped up her training a long time ago.  But sudden superpowers hadn’t really been on her radar.</p>
<p>“Let’s start with a warm up,”  Natasha sighed, leading her over to a treadmill.  “I want you to run on this until you throw up.”  Celia snorted, laughing at the joke until she looked into Natasha’s eyes.  She was not kidding.</p>
<p>“You’re serious?”  Celia asked, glancing back at Clint.  If she was expecting support or help from him, she wasn’t going to get it.  “I don’t-”</p>
<p>“Are you serious about this?  Because if you aren’t, you should tell us now and not waste our time,” Natasha snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.  </p>
<p>“Can I at least listen to some music or something?”  Celia grumbled, stepping onto the machine.</p>
<p>“Do you think we can pause in the middle of battle to hit shuffle on our ipods?”  Natasha bit out.</p>
<p>“Damn, it was just a question,” Celia hissed, turning the treadmill on and setting it to a casual jog.  She could do this, and she had the added incentive to do well to stick it to Natasha and Clint.  She had done a lot of things in life fueled by pettiness and she could do it again.</p>
<p>Of course Natasha only let her keep her easy pace for a few minutes before bumping it up.  It was still okay though and Celia went with it, trying to keep her mind on anything but the run.  Would they really make her run until she barfed?  What if she kept going for hours?  Wouldn’t that be good enough?</p>
<p>Clint stood in front of the machine, trying to look intimidating maybe.  Natasha was standing right next to her and that was making her pretty uneasy.  She knew they could be fierce when they needed to be, but Celia never thought she’d be on this side of it.  Natasha turned up the setting again, forcing her to a speed just under sprinting.</p>
<p>“Oh, come on,” Celia grunted, pumping her arms to try to keep herself going.  She had no idea how long she’d been running, but it didn’t feel anywhere near as long as she needed to impress them.  She felt like she was being set up for failure and she couldn’t stand for that.  All she needed to do was keep moving.  That wasn’t so hard, right?  She’d been running for years and hadn’t been caught yet.</p>
<p>But that was always a possibility.  She’d tucked herself in a city full of faces in a place far from home, but there was always that chance.  A random coffee shop, a trip to the grocery store, a new client at work always came with the risk of running into a face from her past.  And that thought still terrified her.  If they found her, everything she’d worked for would be ruined.  Celia would never be able to stay and she was just now finding her place.  If she lost her job?  If she lost her home?  If she lost Steve?</p>
<p>That thought pushed her over the edge and she slid backwards off the treadmill, falling to her knees.  Celia grabbed the bucket Natasha had so helpfully placed on the side, curling herself over the top as she heaved into it.  The fact that she knew she was failing was making her stomach cramp even harder.</p>
<p>“Why the hell is it green!”  Clint shouted, covering his own mouth in disgust.  Celia rolled her eyes up at him, preparing to explain that this wasn’t some weird side effect where she finally turned into The Hulk, but another spray of Steve’s super smoothie shot out of her mouth.  She hadn’t even drank that much.  How could it turn all of her stomach contents into something resembling Nickelodeon slime?</p>
<p>“I can do better, I swear,” Celia panted as soon as her stomach stopped trying to somersault out of her body.  She couldn’t go crawling back to Steve with puke on her breath and beg him to give her another chance.  Failure wasn’t an option.</p>
<p>“We’ll see about that.  Hey, while you’re down there, how about you give me some push ups?”  Natasha suggested, in a way that made it obvious it wasn’t optional.  Celia scooted away from the bucket, not needing that assaulting her senses anymore, and got into position.  She felt so stiff as she tried to keep perfect form, not even letting the idea of putting her knees down cross her mind.  Celia hoped throwing up wasn’t supposed to signal the end of every set of the workout, because she didn’t want to do it anymore.  It was disgusting and downright wasteful.</p>
<p>“Permission to dispose of the barf bucket, Mistress Natasha?”  Clint grumbled, turning his nose at the smell before darting off with the evidence.  If this kind of thing was a kink for them, Celia was going to scream.  She did not want to be caught up in their sexcapades.</p>
<p>“Only about 100 more before you can stop,” Natasha directed, sounding bored.</p>
<p>“What the fuck,” Celia wheezed, feeling her arms shake from fatigue.  She tried to focus on getting through them one at a time, not worrying about the billion she still had left.  Just one more, and then one more after that.  Her arms were wobbly, but she couldn’t give up.</p>
<p>Natasha’s foot hooking around her wrist and pulling sent her slamming face down onto the floor, just barely stopping her nose from connecting.  Celia rolled onto her back and sat up on her elbows, staring up at Natasha in open mouth shock.</p>
<p>“No point in continuing with such bad form,” Natasha sighed, snapping her fingers.  Clint stepped out from another room, carrying a dummy over his shoulder.  He dropped it next to her on the floor with a thud, giving her a cheeky grin.  “Now it’s time to run through the obstacle course carrying our friend here.”  Celia groaned, having hoped that the giant, complicated looking contraption running the length of the walls wouldn’t come into play today.  She grabbed at the doll, ready to heave it up with her when she felt how heavy it was.</p>
<p>“What the hell?  How much does this thing weigh?”  Celia gasped.</p>
<p>“It weighs the same as Cap.  Would you leave him behind in the field if he was injured?”  Natasha questioned, shaking her head in disappointment.</p>
<p>“Of course not!”  Celia snapped, leaving out the part where she might be tempted to leave Natasha at this point.  She got into a crouching position, trying to figure out the best way to get this thing up.  If this were a real person, she’d have to be careful, but she hoped she wouldn’t be judged on style during this demonstration.  Celia grabbed it by the arms, hooking them over her shoulders and using her upward momentum to bring the whole body up with her as she stood.  She staggered under the massive weight, but kept her footing just barely.  This was going to be so shitty.</p>
<p>“Get going.  The enemy is still lurking,” Natasha prodded, punctuated by Clint nailing her with a marble in the stomach.  Celia decided at this moment that she hated the marbles and they were all going in the trash.  She lurched her way over to the start of the course, trying to figure out how she was going to get over this climbing wall with 200 pounds of fake Steve on her back.  Celia hooked one of her arms through the dummy’s legs, grabbing its arm and securing it more firmly to her body.  She only had one free hand left, but it was better than dropping her cargo.</p>
<p>“Come on Pseudo-Steve,” Celia grunted, grabbing the bar in front of her and starting her climb.  This would be nothing in normal circumstances, but the reduced mobility and increased weight had her sweating profusely in a matter of moments.  She just pictured that this really was Steve and she was the only thing keeping him alive.  Celia could go well past her limits if it meant saving someone.</p>
<p>The heavy landing on the other side of the wall jarred her knees, but she kept going.  Celia wasn’t even paying attention to the obstacles anymore, just moving through them as best she could.  She was distantly glad that she’d already emptied her stomach, because she felt sick from exertion.  Going from casual cardio a few times a week to a training session that rivaled something out of the military was no joke.</p>
<p>If she was having such a hard time with this, was she really cut out for this life?  DId they expect her to be battle ready at this point?  They were going to be sorely disappointed if they were.  Her legs felt like rubber and her chest was on fire, but she couldn’t stop.  She wouldn’t stop until she physically couldn’t anymore, and then she’d go a little bit more.</p>
<p>“Just keep going,” Celia panted to herself, feeling her neck start to cramp from the slightly tweaked position she’d had it in this whole time.  Falling asleep was going to suck a lot more than usual.  “You can do it.”</p>
<p>Her foot slipped off the metal bar of the climbing wall and there was nothing she could do to stop her fall.  She slammed down to the floor on her chest, the dummy never leaving her back.  The air was pushed out of her lungs and she laid there for a few seconds trying to reinflate them.</p>
<p>“That’s it?”  Natasha scoffed, stepping forward to fill Celia’s vision with her shoe covered feet.  “That was a pretty bad fall you let Steve take.  I don’t think he’s gonna make it.”</p>
<p>“Shut up!”  Celia snapped, shifting the body on her back to settle across her entire length.  She hooked its arms around her neck and started to drag herself forward.  Celia knew deep down that this wasn’t real, but a part of her was struggling to remember that.  There was nothing more important than getting from point A to point B.</p>
<p>Celia felt like she wasn’t making any progress, each painfully gotten inch getting her no closer to her goal, but she could still move, so she wouldn’t stop.  Another pull got her further from her mother.  Another pull got her further from her father.  From her ex husband.  From her past failures.  But it also got her closer to salvation.</p>
<p>Her fingers finally brushed on the next station.  Of course it was the tire hopscotch from hell.  There was no way she was getting to her feet again with this thing on her back.  Celia wasn’t even sure she could get through the obstacle on her own.  Her legs had gone numb and she could feel they were shaking from the way her hips were vibrating.  She tried grabbing the top of the tire and pulling herself up, but it wasn’t happening.  Her hands were trembling and her muscles were cramping and her brain was sparking out before it could form a complete thought past the constant chanting of go, go, go.  The weight was suddenly lifted from her back and she panicked, flipping over and trying to sit up to grab it before her back spasmed and she fell back with a thud.</p>
<p>“Put him back,” Celia rasped.  “I can do it.”</p>
<p>“I think we’re done for the day,” Natasha said, crouching down at her side.</p>
<p>“No, I can keep going,” Celia whispered, feeling the ache of failure take her breath away.</p>
<p>“Nah, you did good,” Natasha shrugged, standing up and offering Celia a hand.  She stared at it like she didn’t know what it was, shocked by Natasha’s words.</p>
<p>“What?”  Celia murmured, waiting for the aggressive woman to come back.  </p>
<p>“This wasn’t about testing your strength and agility.  Anyone can train to become an agent.  This was about seeing if you had heart.  If you had the will to push through,” Natasha explained with a grin.</p>
<p>“Oh, I hate you,” Celia groaned, laying her head back down.  She was too tired at this point to appreciate the approval she’d gotten.  All she wanted to do was take a nap and recharge her body.</p>
<p>“No you don’t,” Natasha laughed, shaking her hand toward her again to entice her to take it.</p>
<p>“Oh I do.  I’m imagining all the terrible things I could do to you right now.  The next time I have gum, it is definitely ending up in your hair,” Celia mumbled, breathing through a cramp in her back.</p>
<p>“What do I get?”  Clint asked, walking back over to them.</p>
<p>“You’re the one who has to help her get the gum out,” Celia said, smiling at his nervous squeak.  These were the people she could see herself becoming friends with.</p>
<p>“Are you gonna stay down there all day, or would you like to get back to Steve?  I’m sure he’s pacing a hole in the floor waiting for you,” Natasha asked with a smirk.</p>
<p>“Honestly, I don’t think I can move,” Celia admitted, grimacing as she tried to shift into a sitting position.  Clint and Natasha shared a look before crouching down on either side of her and pulling her arms around their shoulders.  She couldn’t suppress her moan of pain as they lifted her up, supporting her weight between them.  Celia was glad Clint didn’t just throw her over his back like he had the dummy.  At least there was the semblance of the idea that Celia was walking of her own volition.</p>
<p>“Cap’s gonna kill you for breaking his new friend!”  Clint hissed at Natasha as they made their way to the elevator.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry,” Celia laughed.  “I’ll protect you.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Steve put away the last of the fruit in the fridge, glaring at the remnants of the smoothie disaster from this morning.  He’d been so excited to help Celia start off her day on a good note and he’d completely ruined it.  Well, not completely, but sometimes it was okay to let your mind be over dramatic.  He just needed to do something to help take his mind off what was going to be going on in the gym below him today.</p>
<p>Seeing Celia effortlessly save Tony from that nail a week ago had been pretty shocking.  After those first few days with her having shown no hints of any extra abilities besides the healing, seeing that out of nowhere had been almost too much to handle.  They had just started to find their footing with the healing thing, but these new possibilities were like pulling the rug out from under their feet.</p>
<p>It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy for her to have inherited more of his gifts, but he just didn’t know what that meant for her.  She seemed happy enough in her old life, even though he’d only seen a glimpse of it before everything changed in that elevator.  But he had seen the twinkle in her eye when Tony showed her the clinic he was building and the office he’d set aside for her.  Steve knew how much Celia liked helping people, but was she going to now be doing it on a grander scale?</p>
<p>This superhero life wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, even for him.  When he’d gotten the serum, he thought he’d be another face in the crowd, just another soldier out there doing his part.  But things obviously didn’t work out that way and he’d had to adjust, because what other choice did he have?  Not everyone had the ability to do that though.  Steve could see Celia being able to, since she’d already reinvented herself once in her life, but did she really want to do it again?  He couldn’t see her flashing her face on TV screens like Tony, so she’d have to be careful for the rest of her life.</p>
<p>Not like she wasn’t already living a careful life.  Steve didn’t think someone who got their name legally changed through the courts like Celia had would ever fully let her guard down.  And with all the things she’d been doing to help other women, she was more like a Shield agent than most people.  Maybe she was better suited to this life than he wanted to admit.</p>
<p>Steve glanced over to the clock on the stove, glaring at the minutes that were going by too slowly.  He had no idea how long this session was going to take.  What did he even do in his spare time anymore, besides do something with Celia?  It hadn’t even been two weeks since they first met and somehow she was a giant part of his life.  Not that he was complaining.  The rest of the team was great and he liked spending time with them, but that was different.  They saw him as Captain America first and were just starting to get to know Steve Rogers.  Celia only knew him as Steve, and that was kind of refreshing.  He didn’t have to wear that persona around her and when it tried to slip through, she called him out on it.  It was nice to have someone be more interested in him as a person than him in his role.</p>
<p>Steve slowly washed the dishes he used, trying to draw out the task while he thought of what to do next.  Normally, if left to his own devices, he would be down in the gym working out himself.  But he didn’t want to get in the way.  And he didn’t want to leave his floor, in case Celia came back or they needed him for something.  He really needed a hobby.</p>
<p>So many times since he’d woken up he’d considered starting to draw again.  He’d walked around an art supply store once and was awed by all the options there were now.  Back in his day, he’d used whatever he could get his hands on, and more often than not, they hadn’t been high quality items.  But he always figured technique and skill were more important than what you had to work with.  He’d seen art installations made with trash that took his breath away.</p>
<p>It was getting started that was the hard part.  Bringing things into this time that reminded him of his past was always tricky, so he didn’t do it often.  Steve always had to weigh the risks versus the rewards.  Was the possible pain he felt going to be worth it in the end?  He thought back to when Celia asked him if he’d cried yet.  No one else had really asked him about how he’d felt, but he wasn’t too upset about that.  He didn’t want the others to see him vulnerable.  But he didn’t think he was completely opposed to letting Celia see that side of him.  She’d sobbed and wept and writhed in pain in front of him.  She probably wouldn’t judge him for shedding a few tears in front of her.</p>
<p>“Jarvis, how are things going down there?”  he asked, cringing at the idea that he was spying, but unable to help himself.  It wasn’t as if he was going to watch what they were doing over video, but a little update wouldn’t hurt.</p>
<p>“Ms. Burke is currently running on a treadmill,” Jarvis answered.  Steve figured that wasn’t so bad.  He wasn’t expecting Natasha to make her fight hand to hand while Clint shot arrows at them, but he could never be too sure.  The people on this team were always cooking up something strange.</p>
<p>Steve wandered into the bedroom, settling down on his side of the bed.  He could read a book while Celia was gone and at least be somewhat productive.  There was still a lot of history to catch up on, even if parts of it weren’t too interesting.  He was a few pages into the leadup to the Vietnam War when he realized that he’d come to think of his bed as not just his own.  Steve had always slept in the middle of his bed, because why wouldn’t he?  Why sleep on one side when you had all that extra space?  But now it seemed so natural for him and Celia to go to their separate sides, as if they’d been doing it all along.</p>
<p>He hadn’t shared a bed with many people in his life.  Steve slept with his mom sometimes during the colder months of his youth and Bucky when he was older for the same reason.  And on the battlefield, you only got so much space in between your fellow soldiers.  But this was different.  This was more intimate.  Not that they’d done anything of course, but more often than not, they ended up tangled up in each other.  He wasn’t complaining about it though.  Steve didn’t think he’d slept so well since he’d woken up.</p>
<p>And he had to admit he wasn’t really looking forward to her moving into her own room.  Part of it was Steve not wanting Celia to go through her healing thing alone.  Another part just found comfort in her being by his side.  When he had a nightmare and opened his eyes, seeing her lying there helped snap him back into the present.</p>
<p>Steve groaned, trying to focus back on his book.  He didn’t understand why his thoughts kept slipping back to Celia.  They barely knew each other still, but yet, they had something in common that most people didn’t.  They both had to leave their old lives behind and start fresh.  Not at all the same circumstances, but they knew what it was like to be alone in the world.</p>
<p>Steve was finally able to engross himself in his book, flying through chapters as he read about the terrible war and aftermath.  If history told him anything, it was that there would always be a need for people like him.  When he looked back up at the clock, he was startled to find three hours had passed.  How long was this session supposed to last?  What were they even doing down there?</p>
<p>He set his book down, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to sit still any longer.  It was a good enough time for lunch, so Steve headed to the kitchen to make a couple sandwiches.  No mystery smoothies this time.  Surely Celia would be done soon and they could laugh over lunch, with her teasing him about being so worried.  They were probably just talking.  Steve was putting the finishing touches on the sandwiches when he heard the quiet sound of the elevator doors opening.  Well, that was pretty good timing.</p>
<p>“I was starting to get worried that Natasha had killed you,” Steve laughed as he walked over to greet her.  His next words got caught in his throat when he saw Celia being supported on either side by his teammates.  “What happened?”</p>
<p>“You thought I what?”  Natasha asked.</p>
<p>“Why just Natasha?”  Clint pouted.</p>
<p>“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Celia brushed off, as if she wasn’t being held up by two other people.</p>
<p>“She just took a bit of a fall,” Natasha explained.</p>
<p>“With 200 pounds on her back,” Clint added.</p>
<p>“Not that far,” Celia said, negating her argument when she shifted and winced.</p>
<p>“I think I can take it from here,” Steve ground out through a clenched jaw.   He stepped up to them purposefully, giving Clint a nudge out of the way.  He lifted Celia into his arms, grimacing when she couldn’t hold back a hiss of pain.  “We’ll discuss this later.”</p>
<p>“Dad’s never gonna let us play with her after this,” Clint muttered as they walked back onto the elevator.</p>
<p>“She’s a big girl, I’m sure she can sneak out,” Natasha scoffed.</p>
<p>“Don’t be mad, they didn’t do anything wrong,” Celia sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.</p>
<p>“I want all the details after,” Steve grumbled, carrying her into the bedroom.  He hadn’t been expecting her needing to heal when she came back.  Maybe being a bit sore from running for a while, but not having to be carried.</p>
<p>“Wait, don’t put me on the bed!”  Celia protested as he began to set her down.  “I’m too sweaty.  Just set me on the floor.”</p>
<p>“If you think I’m going to lay you down on the floor like an animal, you’re out of your mind,” Steve snorted, placing her softly on top of the mattress.</p>
<p>“Always a gentleman,” Celia grinned, shifting around to get comfortable.  “Especially when you know I’ll do the laundry.”</p>
<p>“Well, you have to earn your spot on my floor somehow,” Steve joked, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her.</p>
<p>“And after the smoothie this morning, I’ll keep kitchen duty as well,” Celia giggled, scrunching her nose at the memory of it.</p>
<p>“I hope that doesn’t make this part worse,” Steve said with a cringe.  Gastrointestinal issues were something he wasn’t sure if the healing would take care of.  And if it did, what would that look like?</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, that stuff is long gone.  I was lucky enough to experience it a second time,” she snickered.  </p>
<p>“Do I want to know?”</p>
<p>“Probably not, but I’ll tell you anyways,” Celia sighed, closing her eyes and trying to settle.  Steve knew how hard this next part was for her.  How did you convince your body to let you fall asleep when you knew you were going to immediately wake up in pain?  She’d been doing good with it the past week, but this was the first time since the abduction that she’d had something significant to heal, instead of just normal living wear and tear.  “I can hear you thinking.”</p>
<p>“Developing new abilities?  Because I’m pretty sure that one didn’t come from me,” Steve chuckled.</p>
<p>“And they say you aren’t funny.”</p>
<p>“Who says that?”</p>
<p>“Everyone.”</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, I was only just starting my comedy career when the war got in the way,” Steve smirked, reaching a hand out to brush a stray curl from Celia’s forehead.  “What are we dealing with here?”</p>
<p>“Just tweaked my back a little,” Celia mumbled, leaning into his touch.  Steve shifted so he could keep stroking her head from a more comfortable position.  A little touch or scratch always helped to settle Celia for this next part.</p>
<p>“You want me to stay?”  Steve murmured, always making sure he gave her the option.  He didn’t want to assume she wanted him there every time, even though he would be if she wanted it.</p>
<p>“Please,” Celia breathed out, reaching up to grab him around his wrist.  Steve nodded, even if she couldn’t see it, sliding onto the bed to lie down next to her.  He started their usual routine, with him talking about whatever came to mind.  This time it was just regurgitating everything he’d read earlier while he was waiting for her.  Steve kept his voice deep and even, letting the natural rumble vibrate into her side.</p>
<p>It didn’t take long for her to drop off and then she was squirming.  The only good thing about this time was she didn’t have to be careful with her movements during, since he didn’t think she was planning on going right back to sleep.  They still didn’t know how sensitive the healing ability was, so Celia always tried to keep as still as possible while she healed, so she wouldn’t cause any more damage and fall into a cycle of repeatedly waking up.  Steve knew how hard that was for her, since moving through the pain felt more natural, but he just did his best to try and ground her during it.  This time, however, he gave Celia her space to move how she wanted.</p>
<p>After a few minutes of wiggling and moaning, she finally settled, her limbs splayed to the side.  Steve let himself relax too, relieved that this round was over.  He felt guilty for feeling so affected by watching this every time, since it wasn’t like he was feeling any of the pain.  But it was its own kind of torture watching someone you cared about be in pain without being able to do anything about it.  And knowing deep down you were the cause.  Steve tried not to think that way anymore, since it only upset Celia, but he couldn’t help it sometimes.  But if Celia really joined the team, he was going to have to get used to seeing this.</p>
<p>“Well, I think I’m ready for a shower,” Celia sighed, plucking at her sweaty top.</p>
<p>“That sounds like a good idea,” Steve agreed, propping himself up on one elbow.</p>
<p>“So, I was wondering,” Celia started, rolling her head to stare up at him through her long lashes, “what’s your shower look like?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“That did not come out the way I meant it,” Celia said quickly, stifling her giggle as she stared at the look on Steve’s face.  “What I should’ve asked was if you had a bathtub.”</p>
<p>“Oh!”  Steve laughed, relaxing now that she made it clear she wasn’t propositioning him.  “Um, yeah I do.  I’ve never actually used it though, I just use the shower.”</p>
<p>“Would you mind if I used it occasionally?  I haven’t been in a good soaking tub in so long.  Feel free to say no though,” Celia said.  Steve didn’t seem very territorial, especially since he’d opened up his bed to her, but she didn’t want to push his hospitality.</p>
<p>“Of course, use it whenever you want,” Steve insisted, rolling off the bed.  “I’m not really a bath kind of guy.”</p>
<p>“They’re so good though.  Especially when you have bubbles and nice smelling oils, maybe a couple candles,” Celia said dreamily.  The tub in her old apartment hadn’t been deep enough to really enjoy.</p>
<p>“I’ll keep that in mind,” Steve chuckled.  “I can just imagine what the team would say if I told them I was going to take a soak in some oils.”</p>
<p>“Tony would probably get you rose petals,” Celia snorted.</p>
<p>“I don’t doubt it,” Steve agreed.  “How about you take your shower and then join me in the kitchen for lunch?  I just finished putting together some sandwiches when you got back.  I promise these are safe to eat.”</p>
<p>“Lunch already?”  Celia asked.  They may not have drank all their breakfast earlier, but it was still kind of soon to be thinking about lunch.</p>
<p>“Already?  It’s after noon,” Steve scoffed, giving her a confused look.  Now it was Celia’s turn to be confused.  It felt like she’d been gone for an hour at most, not closer to four.  She was in the zone for most of her workout, but losing track of time like that was kind of unsettling.</p>
<p>“Wow, it didn’t seem like that long,” Celia mumbled, rolling off the bed.  Maybe she could ask Jarvis later to show her video of the workout.  She assumed they were all constantly being filmed in the tower, just hopefully not in the private areas.</p>
<p>“Are you okay?”  Steve asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I just didn’t think I did very well,” Celia sighed.  It kind of sucked going into a test where you thought you were being graded on something completely different, but at least Natasha and Clint acted satisfied with her performance.  Celia was her own worst critic though.</p>
<p>“I’m looking forward to hearing all about it over sandwiches,” Steve said, walking over to nudge her back to her bathroom.</p>
<p>“I get it, I stink,” Celia laughed, heading back to her room.  Even though she didn’t have her own tub, each shower she took was an experience.  The water pressure in her old apartment had been fine, nothing to turn her nose up at, but this was another level.  This was luxury.  But she cut her time short so she wouldn’t keep Steve waiting too long.  At least Celia thinks she did.</p>
<p>She wrapped up in a towel and went over to her painfully empty dresser.  Celia hadn’t had time to get extra clothes from her storage unit or do laundry since she’d been here, so she was quickly running out of clean clothes.  She didn’t even know if Steve had any machines on his floor.  Celia had everything but a clean shirt.  She could always rewear one, but that felt too dirty in this fancy tower.  Steve probably wouldn’t mind letting her borrow one of his.  Just until she could wash her stuff, along with Steve’s bedspread.</p>
<p>Celia put on the clean clothes she did have, but hesitated by the door.  Walking around in a bra wasn’t a big deal in her apartment, even when she had roommates there.  It was sometimes good for the women she was helping, depending on the circumstances.  Being comfortable in her body was something she’d had to work hard for, after so many years of that part of herself being controlled.  But Steve wasn’t a battered woman, he was just a polite and slightly awkward guy.</p>
<p>“Jarvis, can you ask Steve if I can borrow one of his shirts?”  Celia asked.  It felt really weird having a computer relay a message for her, but it was probably the best option.  Less chance for embarrassment on both sides.</p>
<p>“Captain Rogers said to help yourself to his closet,” Jarvis answered after a few moments.  That was a little surprising.  Celia figured there would be a shirt thrown at her closed door, not an invitation to Steve’s bedroom in her current state of undress.  She went with it anyways, walking back down the hall to Steve’s room.  Celia peeked her head in, finding the room empty.  Well, that made more sense.  She walked over to the dresser, hoping to find something that would almost fit.  Celia wasn’t a small girl by any means, but Steve was broad as hell.  She grabbed a blue tee that was on top, pulling it on and shrugging.  It would do.</p>
<p>“Jarvis, can you thank Steve for me?”  Celia asked, turning back toward the bed.  She could get the blankets together and then ask Steve which floor the laundry room was on.  They probably had a setup that rivaled a professional.  Celia was leaning across the bed to untuck the top blanket when the bathroom door opened and out walked Steve.  A soaking wet Steve who was only wearing a towel.</p>
<p>“Oh!”  Steve choked out, frozen in the doorway with one hand holding his low slung towel.  Celia couldn’t help staring at everything for a few seconds before she tore her eyes away to look into his eyes.</p>
<p>“Uh strip- stripping.  I mean, I was stripping the bed.  Laundry, you know,” Celia stammered, suddenly feeling like Steve must have when she was taking her shirt off all over the place.  She’d never tease him again.</p>
<p>“I didn’t know you were still in here,” Steve mumbled.  He was blushing now and the color was creeping along the top of his chest.  It was kind of adorable.</p>
<p>“I can come later,” Celia said, wincing at her word usage.  Who was she turning into right now?  Sure, Steve looked good.  Well, Steve looked great, better than great, but some bare torso shouldn’t be affecting her like this.  Although it had been a while… </p>
<p>“Let me just grab some clothes and head back into the bathroom,” Steve said, darting over to his closet.  “So, you found a shirt.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, thanks,” Celia nodded, smoothing down the short sleeve.  “Unless you had your heart set on this one?  I can give it back.”  Celia made to start pulling the shirt off over her head, but stopped at Steve’s sound of protest.  Well, at least they were on a level, embarrassed playing field.</p>
<p>“I’m good!”  Steve insisted, grabbing a handful of clothes indiscriminately and rushing back into the bathroom.  Celia went back to her chore, trying not to melt into an awkward puddle.  Maybe they needed to spend some time apart, since they were pretty much up each other’s butts 24/7.  This training session had been the longest they were separated, besides the kidnapping thing.  They needed to try to get back to doing normal activities, however that looked.</p>
<p>Celia was used to always doing something, and sitting around for most of the day was strange.  When she wasn’t working, she was out on the streets talking to contacts and gathering supplies.  Or she was home with whoever she was helping at the moment.  Waiting around to see if she was developing superpowers wasn’t anything she’d expected to be doing in life.  But it was giving her ample time to be weird in front of Steve.</p>
<p>He’d never given her any indication that he felt anything other than friendly toward her.  Sure, it was pretty friendly, but that could just be Steve.  She hadn’t seen him interact with people other than the team, so that wasn’t a very good comparison.  But Celia was definitely not risking her place here by acting on her slight crush.  If Steve didn’t feel like that about her, she wasn’t going to put him into an uncomfortable position.  Repressing her feelings and emotions was an art she had perfected long ago.  Her parents had to be good for something.</p>
<p>“Sorry about that,” Steve said sheepishly as he exited the bathroom once again.  This time fully clothed.  “When Jarvis relayed your thanks, I thought that meant you’d left.”</p>
<p>“You don’t need to apologize for going into your own room,” Celia chuckled, picking up the blankets and clutching them to her chest.  “Don’t worry, as soon as Tony’s fancy bed gets delivered, we won’t be so on top of each other anymore.”</p>
<p>“I haven’t minded.  Sharing a bed, I mean,” Steve said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck.  “You aren’t a bad roommate.”</p>
<p>“And I’ll be an even better one once you point me in the direction of the laundry room,” Celia said, gesturing down to the bundle in her arms.</p>
<p>“About that…” Steve trailed off, leading her out of the room and toward a wall near the elevator.  He opened up a cupboard door, revealing what looked like a dumbwaiter with a laundry basket inside.</p>
<p>“What the hell?”  Celia asked, frowning in confusion as Steve pulled the basket out.</p>
<p>“I think robots do it.  You just put your stuff in here and send it down.  When it’s done, it comes back up,” Steve explained.</p>
<p>“Everyone uses this?  But how- and then what- huh?”</p>
<p>“I don’t question it,” Steve shrugged, putting the blankets into the hamper.  “Do you have anything you want to add?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, one sec,” Celia sighed, trotting back to her room.  What was her life now?  Robots washing her clothes.  The excess made her kind of twitchy.  “What was that about being able to earn my keep by doing laundry?”</p>
<p>“This is how we do it in Stark Tower,” Steve chuckled, moving the blankets over so her stuff would have room.  He put the basket back into the wall and closed the door, not even saying anything.</p>
<p>“So laundry is a joke and you already made breakfast and lunch.  What am I supposed to do?”  Celia grumbled, crossing her arms.</p>
<p>“Now you join me for lunch and tell me everything that happened in the gym,” Steve grinned, walking toward the kitchen.  So she did, making sure she went into vivid detail about the reappearance of Steve’s smoothie.  He frowned a little when she mentioned Natasha’s rough demeanor, but she tried to brush past that quickly.  It wasn’t that big of a deal, especially since it was mostly an act to test her.</p>
<p>“So what does this tell us?”  Steve asked as soon as the recounting was finished.</p>
<p>“I don’t know.  I wish I could say I knew exactly what I can do now, but I still have no idea.  Or how to figure it out,” Celia said, tossing her napkin down on her empty plate.  “How did you find out all the things you could do?”</p>
<p>“Uh, I just started fighting in a war and figured it out from there?”  Steve shrugged.</p>
<p>“Oh, that’s all?”  Celia scoffed, leaning back in her seat.  Being thrown straight into battle may be the quickest way to find out, but it also sounded like the most dangerous way to go about it.  She didn’t think Steve would go for something like that.</p>
<p>“So I guess we’re back to waiting and seeing?”</p>
<p>“My favorite,” Celia snorted, grabbing their plates and taking them to the sink.  She knew she could just stick them in the dishwasher, but she was kind of sick of machines right now.  She needed to do something with her hands.  Not being sore from her extended workout earlier gave her a weird disconnect from it.  It was like it never even happened at this point.</p>
<p>“What should we do now?”  Steve wondered, snatching the clean plates so he could dry them.</p>
<p>“What would you be doing if I wasn’t here?”</p>
<p>“Probably working out,” Steve admitted.</p>
<p>“Why am I not surprised?”  Celia laughed, turning to lean her back against the sink.  “Don’t let me stop you.”</p>
<p>“Do you want to join me?”  Steve offered.</p>
<p>“Nah, I’ll be fine here,” Celia assured him, actually liking the idea of having some alone time.  She didn’t really know what she’d do, but she’d find something.</p>
<p>“Do you want me to see if anyone else in the tower wants to hang out?”  Steve suggested.</p>
<p>“Setting up a playdate for me?”  Celia giggled, shaking her head at how adorable Steve was.  “I’m sure Clint and Natasha have seen enough of my face today.”</p>
<p>“I just didn’t want to leave you alone,” Steve sighed, slumping his shoulders.</p>
<p>“I left you alone for hours this morning.  I promise I won’t snoop or anything.”</p>
<p>“It’s not that, it’s just-”</p>
<p>“If I’m going to live here, you can’t expect to have to stick by my side at all hours of the day.  You can live your life without worrying about what I’m doing.  I’m always okay,” Celia said.  It was sweet that Steve was always so protective and considerate, but this level of togetherness was unsustainable.</p>
<p>“Okay,” Steve relented, throwing his hands up in surrender.  “Just promise me that if you need something you’ll tell Jarvis and he’ll tell me.”</p>
<p>“I promise,” Celia agreed, shooing him away to get changed into his workout gear.  Now that she was getting her space, what was she going to do with it?</p>
<p>“Last chance to join me,” Steve said a few minutes later after he finished changing.</p>
<p>“Tempting, but I think I’ll pass.  Gonna see if there is anything in this kitchen I can scrounge up to turn into a respectable meal,” Celia chuckled, gesturing to the fridge she knew was practically barren.  She could always go down to the grocery store while Steve was working out, but he’d probably have a coronary if he found out she left the tower unannounced.</p>
<p>“Good luck,” Steve snorted, jogging to the elevator after one last nod.  The fridge was even emptier than she thought, after the smoothie fiasco and Steve’s sandwiches.  It was reminding Celia of her food supply during the first days on her own.</p>
<p>“Maybe there’s another hidden compartment somewhere, just full of food instead of laundry?”  Celia mumbled under her breath.</p>
<p>“Hey Celia, there might be a change of plans,” Steve called from outside the room.  She followed his voice, prepared to argue against whatever new reason he had to not leave her alone, but kept quiet in confusion when she saw Steve standing outside the open elevator, looking in.  If Tony had done something else weird in there, she was going to lose her mind.  Steve’s floor was way too high up to have to avoid taking the elevator all the time.</p>
<p>“What is it?”  Celia asked, hesitantly stepping next to Steve to peer inside.  There was a jar of marbles sitting in the center of the car with a sticky note stuck on top.</p>
<p>“Dinner, 7pm,” Steve read, raising an eyebrow in her direction.  “I guess we have dinner plans after all.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Steve ran hard on the treadmill, relishing in the feel of letting out all of his pent up energy.  It had been a while since he had been in a good rhythm of exercising, from the gunshot wound to everything that happened after it.  And that was the stuff he needed to burn through right now.</p><p>Steve had never had a female roommate and definitely not one who shared his bed.  He’d traveled with the showgirls during his USO days, but nothing happened with them.  Well, not much had happened.  The days were long and being on the road got lonely, so sometimes a little steam was let off.  But it was different now, since Celia would still be there the next day, and the day after that.</p><p>They kept finding themselves in awkward situations, mostly by accident.  He’d already learned to not wander around his floor in a certain state of undress, thanks to Tony.  The man was a fan of the pop in and he’d gotten an eyeful once at an inopportune moment.  So now Steve made sure he was always wearing at least a pair of pants at all times.  Although, he hadn’t known he needed to stepping out of his bathroom.  Thank goodness for the towel.  He didn’t know if he’d be able to look Celia in the eye if he’d been fully nude.</p><p>Steve would be lying if he said he wasn’t attracted to her.  But more than that, he’d formed a bond with her.  It was hard for him to connect with people in this time, with everything still so fresh.  But somehow he had with Celia.  Was it based on a shared traumatic event?  Possibly.  But hadn’t all of his relationships these days been formed that way?  It wasn’t like he met the rest of the team at a coffee shop or something.  All of his connections were born from blood. </p><p>Even if he could admit to a little bit of a crush, although that word sounded so juvenile, it wasn’t like he was going to act on it.  They still didn’t know each other very well and with the situation they were in, it would be foolish to risk things going poorly.  He’d much rather have a friend than a failed fling.  And that was assuming Celia felt the same way.  Steve didn’t want to assign feelings to her and make her feel uncomfortable here.  After everything she’d been through, the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel pressured.  He would just keep going on as normal.  Things would settle once the newness wore off.  </p><p>Steve let himself stay in the gym for two hours, dragging himself from his place of refuge.  The rest of the team would always get judgy if he stayed in the gym for too long.  They just didn’t understand.  Thor probably would, but they obviously hadn’t heard from the god since he’d left Earth after the battle.</p><p>Steve rode the elevator up, thinking of what he could do to pass the time before it was time for dinner with the team.  They hadn’t eaten together in a while, or even gathered really since the drama with Fury, but he was looking forward to it.  He’d been giving Celia time and space to get more comfortable with the idea, but since training had gone well with Clint and Natasha, it would probably be a good time to ease back into team stuff.  And Tony always ordered the best food.</p><p>“You still owe my three from that bachelor party I worked,” Celia said.  Steve tilted his head in confusion, following the sound of her voice.  Had Celia invited someone to the tower?  He found her in one of her favorite spots, sitting on the phone in front of the big living room windows with papers spread all around her.</p><p>“You call it an engagement brunch, I call it a bachelor party.  All I know is my hands were sore for days after that.  I could’ve charged double for your friend Alec.”  Steve froze, not knowing if he should keep listening or go to his room before he was spotted.  The conversation sounded weird on this end.</p><p>“Because he looks like a linebacker and felt like he was made of solid steel,” Celia scoffed, finally looking up and seeing Steve hovering in the doorway.  Instead of looking embarrassed, she just smiled, waving him over.  Steve hesitated before joining her, sliding down to sit against the window across from her.  He tried his best not to snoop around and look at all of her papers.</p><p>“Look, Chuck needs the stuff, so tell me what I need to do to get the extra two.  I don’t know why you always fight me on this and still end up giving me what I want.  You get the good publicity, the tax write off, and my services, which might I add, far exceeds the value of what you’re giving up.  So just say yes so I can get off the phone, please,” Celia moaned, rolling her eyes when she saw the look he was giving her.  Tony would be having a field day if he could hear this conversation.</p><p>“Thank you Murphy, I knew you’d come around,” Celia purred, writing down a note in a small folder.  “I’ll let you know when I can come see you and start paying off my debt.  Until then, give Wally and the kids a kiss from me.”  Celia said her goodbyes and hung up the phone, chuckling under her breath as she finished her jotting.</p><p>“So-”</p><p>“How was your workout?”  Celia asked, gathering up her papers and shoving them back in her bag.</p><p>“It was good,” Steve answered, wondering if he’d have to outright ask or if Celia would just offer up the information.  He wanted to let her have her privacy, but this was too weird to ignore.  “Did you find some way to pass the time?”</p><p>“Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that.  Just making a few mysterious phone calls,” Celia giggled, tilting her head to the side.</p><p>“The usual,” Steve nodded.</p><p>“That was sort of a business associate of mine, I guess you could say.  I’ve got contacts around the city and we trade favors now and then.”</p><p>“What kind of favors?”</p><p>“I have a particular set of skills,” Celia said with a grin, wagging her eyebrows at him.</p><p>“Uh…”</p><p>“I’ll put that movie on the list too,” Celia snorted, standing up and stretching.  Steve followed, rolling his shoulders to work out the soreness from his exercise.  “Actually, maybe I can show you.”</p><p>“Show me what?”  Steve asked, feeling a little nervous.</p><p>“Trust me?”  Celia questioned, raising an eyebrow in challenge.</p><p>“Of course,” Steve said quickly, letting Celia guide him to his bed with an appreciative smile.  She gently pushed him down onto his bed, positioning him on his stomach.  Steve’s brain was screaming at him to get out of this situation before he passed a point of awkward no return, but he couldn’t go back on his word when he just said he trusted her.  He could let this play out for a little longer.</p><p>“One of the courses I took while I was in school was on therapeutic massage,” Celia explained, sitting next to him on the bed.  He turned his head to look at her as she carefully climbed over to straddle his hips, giving him enough time to stop her if he felt uncomfortable.  She started pressing her fingertips into his back, feeling around the different areas.  “I never took enough classes to become officially licensed in it, but I picked up a few skills.”</p><p>“What kind of-”  Steve moaned into his pillow as Celia pressed into his shoulders, just to the side of his neck.  “Oh God.”</p><p>“A massage like this can be pretty expensive, depending where you go.  So I’ve got a deal worked out with some people to trade my hands for their goods,” Celia said, digging in so deep Steve was convinced he'd melt into a puddle.  “Murphy owns a chain of furniture stores and he hooks me up with free futons in exchange for a deep, full body massage.  Then I send them off to whatever shelter I’m working with at the time.”</p><p>“That’s great,” Steve murmured, actually purring when she worked out a knot in the middle of his back.  He should be telling Celia she didn’t have to do this, but he was weak and it felt too good.  He’d find a way to pay her back somehow.</p><p>“You’ve got so much tension built up back here,” Celia commented, moving around to get better leverage.  The ends of her hair were brushing against the back of his neck and it sent a shiver down his spine.  “I’m gonna have to start working on you more often.”  Steve hummed in agreement, feeling so relaxed that he’d probably say yes to anything right now.</p><p>“‘Kay,” Steve sighed, letting his eyes flutter closed in pure bliss.</p><p>“I guess this will make up for not being able to do the laundry,” Celia snickered, moving down to knead at one of his thighs.</p><p>“I’d wash your laundry by hand if it meant I kept getting this,” Steve mumbled.</p><p>“I’ll keep that in mind,” Celia said, moving onto his other leg.  She kept working in silence, moving systematically over every body part.  The foot massage was out of this world and the hand massage was surprisingly pleasant.  She ended by lightly scraping her fingers along his scalp, ducking her head down close to his ear.  “How was that?”  Celia was draped across his back and all he had to do was turn his head a little to the side and they would make contact.  Just a little brush of their lips wouldn’t hurt, would it?  Steve tilted his head back, looking up into Celia’s eyes.  She had the ability to move away if she wanted to, but he swore he saw her eyes flick to his lips briefly before landing back on his eyes again.  Just a few more inches.</p><p>“Pardon the interruption, but Mr. Stark would like me to inform you that dinner will be arriving in approximately an hour,” Jarvis said suddenly.  Celia jerked back, the moment officially ruined.  Steve didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.</p><p>“You need to take a shower, don’t you?”  Celia said in a rush, smoothly hopping off of his back and off the bed.  She flexed her hands a little, looking everywhere but in his direction.  “Shit, Tony is going to have a field day when he sees I’m wearing one of your shirts.”</p><p>“Uh-”</p><p>“Let me get out of your hair so you can get ready.  I promise I won’t be in here this time,” Celia stammered, rushing out of his room without another word.  Steve flipped onto his back, trying to figure out what just happened.  What kind of reaction had that been?  Celia was definitely flustered, but was it in a good way?  Had she been glad they were interrupted?  The endorphins released during the massage must’ve been messing with his mind.  He’d already decided that blurring the lines past friendship would be a bad idea.  This was just them getting caught up in the moment.  It wouldn’t happen again.</p><p>Steve reluctantly rolled off the bed and headed to the shower, setting it to cool to try to clear his head.  They’d almost crossed a boundary they wouldn’t be able to come back from.  It’s not like one kiss had to lead to anything more serious, but the memory of it happening would always live between them.  And the team would definitely be able to sniff it out somehow.  He and Celia needed to stay friends only.</p><p>He finished up his shower, putting on his clothes from before his workout.  He walked out of the room to look for Celia and found her sitting where she was before, only now she had the jar of marbles Clint had sent in the elevator.</p><p>“What do you think he was doing with all of these?”  Celia wondered, holding one of the glass balls up to inspect it in the sunlight.  It looked like Celia was going to pretend nothing happened, which was just fine to Steve.</p><p>“I honestly couldn’t tell you,” Steve said, stooping down to grab a few for himself.  “What are you going to do with these?”</p><p>“I’m not sure,” Celia replied, rolling a few along her palm.  “Just leave them in the jar for now, I guess.”  She slipped one into her pocket before she closed the lid.</p><p>“Planning on getting a little revenge?”  Steve asked, tilting his head at her pocket.</p><p>“Nah, just keeping one on me for a little luck.  Who knows when I’ll have to leave some evidence somewhere?”  Celia laughed.  Steve could feel his mood immediately darken at the mention of that whole ordeal, wishing he’d gotten more of a chance to show Agent Miller just how angry he’d been.  All of those bones in his body and he’d only been able to break a couple.</p><p>“You’re not planning on being abducted again, are you?”  Steve muttered, wondering how hard it would be to get Tony to hide a tracker on the inside of a marble.</p><p>“Not particularly, but that’s not really the kind of thing you can plan for,” Celia snorted, getting up and taking the container back to her room.  Would it be over the top to hire a security guard to follow her around?  Being around the team could be dangerous, if they crossed the wrong people.  He didn’t need to worry about the rest of them, since he knew they could defend themselves, but he didn’t know what Celia was capable of.  Steve was pretty sure Pepper had a security team that went with her wherever she went, but people actually knew she existed.  Celia was still kind of flying under the radar, except for the few agents who knew about her in Shield.  He hoped they knew better than to mess with her, after what happened with Miller.  Fury wouldn’t tell him exactly what happened to those agents, but he said they wouldn’t be an issue anymore.  When it came to Fury, that could mean so many different things.</p><p>“You ready?”  Steve called out, walking over to the elevators.  He was starving after his workout and wanted to get up to the food before it all got picked through.  Tony always ordered enough, but he liked to pretend there wasn’t enough for Steve or that his favorites were already taken.</p><p>“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Celia sighed, joining him at the doors.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.  No breaking your back this time.”</p><p>“I didn’t break my back.  Don’t be so overdramatic.  A slipped disc at most.”</p><p>“Says the person who needed to be carried.”</p><p>“Don’t make me carry you!”</p><p>“I’d like to see you try!”</p><p>“Oh, if that’s a challenge, you know I can’t just ignore it,” Celia said seriously, bouncing on the balls of her feet and loosening up her arms.</p><p>“You couldn’t get me off the ground,” Steve scoffed, spreading his arms in invitation.  Celia gawked at him in mock offense, then squinted her eyes in determination.</p><p>“Bridal or fireman?”  Celia asked, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.</p><p>“Do I look like a bride?”  Steve questioned, tilting his head to the side.</p><p>“You are very pretty,” Celia said, smirking at his slight pout.  He wasn’t pretty.  Pretty was for girls, wasn’t it?  Maybe she-</p><p>“Oof!”  Steve grunted as Celia tackled him in his stomach, flipping him over one of her shoulders.  She staggered a bit under his weight and he instinctively grabbed at her to try to help her regain her balance.  Of course his face was hanging right above her lower back.</p><p>“I got you off the ground,” Celia wheezed, locking her knees.  “Damn, you weigh much more than that dummy.”</p><p>“Okay, you proved your point,” Steve grumbled, pinching her side lightly.</p><p>“Hey!  I can still drop you,” Celia said, shaking her hips to dislodge his fingers.  “Your life is in my hands.”</p><p>“I’m pretty sure I can survive a fall from this height,” Steve laughed, ignoring Celia jiggling her butt in his face.  “What, you aren’t ticklish, are you?”</p><p>“Don’t you dare,” Celia growled, a clear warning in her voice.  She couldn’t really do anything to stop him though, not while she was holding him hostage.  He dug his fingers into her sides, chuckling at the girlish squeal she couldn’t hold back.  Celia squirmed as she tried to wriggle her body away from his tickling hands, but it was no use.  She bent forward suddenly and Steve found himself plopped onto his butt.  Celia lost her footing and fell over him, catching herself on her arms so she was hovering over his face.  They stared at each other for a few moments, panting to catch their breath.  Celia’s hair was hanging around their faces like a curtain to section them off from the outside world.  It would take no effort at all to just lean up and come together.</p><p>“Tony,” Steve said abruptly.</p><p>“Tony?”  Celia repeated, looking a little confused and frustrated.</p><p>“We don’t want the food to get cold,” Steve mumbled, sending her a guilty smile.  Celia hovered over him for a moment before sighing and standing up.  She pulled him up as she straightened with surprising strength.</p><p>“Well, let’s get going.  We don’t want to disappoint Tony,” Celia said, walking back over to the elevator.  Steve followed in silence, hoping the team wouldn’t notice the weirdness between them right now.  Their time spent apart today was supposed to help with the tension, not ratchet it up.</p><p>“About time,” Tony scoffed, waiting for them at the elevator doors once they got to the correct floor.  “I was wondering if you got lost.”</p><p>“Just checking the elevator for booby traps,” Celia snarked, scrunching her nose up at the other man.</p><p>“How cute that you think you’d be able to see it coming,” Tony cooed, draping his arm across Celia’s shoulders and leading her to the dining room.  Their relationship had progressed to one where they were always joking with each other, much to Steve’s surprise.  After Celia stopped feeling like she owed them all the world and got more comfortable, she started trading barbs with Tony, much to his delight.  He always liked a person who wasn’t afraid of a little friendly banter.</p><p>“Oh hey, you survived!”  Clint said with a grin as soon as they all entered the room.</p><p>“Good as new,” Celia confirmed, twisting a little at her waist.  “I’d do some sort of fancy flip to prove it, but I don’t know how.”</p><p>“Survived what?  What happened?”  Tony asked, looking around the room.  “Does it have something to do with you wearing one of Steve’s shirts?  Don’t think I didn’t notice.”</p><p>“Mistress Natasha kicked my ass this morning,” Celia snorted, sitting down in an open seat next to Bruce.</p><p>“Sounds hot.  I’ll have to see if Jarvis has any footage for me to watch,” Tony said, sitting in his customary head of the table seat.</p><p>“I’m going to tell Pepper you said that,” Natasha threatened, glaring over at the man.</p><p>“Cool it, snitch.  Let’s get back to this shirt situation.  What’s the story?  Just grabbed the first thing you saw when rolling out of bed this afternoon?”  Tony asked, resting his chin on his fist in rapt concentration.</p><p>“It was just a laundry issue Tony,” Steve grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest as he sat down next to Celia.</p><p>“Speaking of clothes, we should probably get you some new ones.  While your current ensemble is certainly a look, I wouldn’t say it’s a good one.”</p><p>“It’s minimalist, which you wouldn’t understand,” Celia defended, rolling her eyes.  “Besides, I have more stuff in my storage locker that I can grab.”</p><p>“I look forward to seeing the high end fashion you procure from your storage space.”</p><p>“And I look forward to eating this food I’ve been smelling for the last ten minutes,” Clint grumbled, waggling his fingers over the array of boxes covering the center of the table.</p><p>“Well, we wouldn’t want our little Clint to starve, now would we?  Dig in everyone,” Tony instructed.  Everyone started passing around the cartons of Chinese food, pouring whatever they wanted on their plates.  Steve was glad to see Celia was going with the flow, taking a healthy amount of food.</p><p>“Where are the forks?”  Steve asked, looking around the table for some silverware.</p><p>“They’re called chopsticks,” Tony snorted, twirling a bundle of noodles on the end of his own.</p><p>“Tony, you know I don’t know how to use chopsticks,” Steve groaned, knowing the man didn’t bring anything for him to use on purpose.  He picked up the sticks, trying to hold them like everyone else was.  It didn’t feel right and he couldn’t spread them apart far enough to pick up anything.</p><p>“Let me help,” Celia said, leaning over to move Steve’s fingers in the correct position.  “It’s easy once you get the hang of it.”  He tried to copy what she was doing and almost had it, but the bite dropped back onto his plate before it could reach his mouth.</p><p>“Great,” Steve groaned, staring mournfully at his plate of food that was rapidly getting colder.  He was just going to have to get up and grab a fork, no matter how much Tony teased him.  Steve was just about to stand up when Celia slid the chopsticks out of his hand and expertly twirled a pile of noodles onto the end.</p><p>“I thought you had better hands than that?”  Celia grinned.</p><p>“Easy for you to say, showo-” Steve’s words were cut off by Celia sliding the food into his open mouth.  He reflexively closed his mouth around it, glaring at Celia as she barely held in her giggles.  “So you’re just gonna feed me like a baby?”</p><p>“Maybe,” Celia shrugged, taking a bite of her own food.  Steve huffed out an embarrassed laugh, more determined than ever to figure these things out, so he wouldn’t look like an idiot.  But he just couldn’t get the hang of it.  He could fight in war but he lost in a battle against two little pieces of wood?</p><p>Steve was about to give up again when Celia silently grabbed his hand, this time working his fingers to get the bite and letting him guide the food to his own mouth.  This method was a little less mortifying, so he told her a quiet thanks and they got into a rhythm of eating for the rest of the meal.  He was even able to grab a few pieces by himself near the end.</p><p>It was nice eating with everyone again and adding Celia to the mix.  Her earlier nervousness was gone and she seemed to be having a good time chatting with the others.  Steve was glad she was getting more comfortable around everyone, even if the two of them together was getting a bit more awkward.  They would figure things out soon enough now that they were spending more time apart and had different things to distract them.  The beginning of a friendship would always have a few bumps, and that’s all this was.  That’s all they were.  Just friends.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After that day, they started spending more and more time apart.  They weren’t avoiding each other on purpose and they still slept in the same bed at night, but things were just naturally getting more busy for Celia.  She was starting to work out more regularly with Clint and Natasha, only this time they weren’t putting her through the ringer like before.  It was mostly cardio, strength training, with hand to hand combat sprinkled in.  The other parts of the day were spent in the clinic, helping Tony put in the finishing touches and getting more acquainted with the computer systems she’d be using.  She was really excited to be going back to her normal career again and helping people.  And knowing that she would be earning her place in the tower a bit more was nice too.</p>
<p>Eating dinner with everyone was becoming almost a nightly thing, which wasn’t as awkward as she thought it would be.  They all seemed to have accepted her presence by this point, so it was more like she was a new kid at school people were getting used to, instead of someone being forced into their clique.  And she appreciated that they didn’t handle her with kid gloves, even though Steve always looked so disapproving of some of their jokes.  Celia would rather be treated like everyone else, than have them worry about offending her.  As long as they kept her past out of it, she was good.  Tony hadn’t called her Holly since right after that meeting with Fury.</p>
<p>She was currently in the gym, finishing up her cooldown exercises with Natasha.  Clint had already gone ahead to the showers, so it was just them stretching.  Natasha was the one Celia was most wary about, since it seemed like the other woman was always observing and calculating.  She never did anything outright hostile, but Celia knew nothing went unnoticed by her.  She tried not to let it affect how she lived her life, but it was always something Celia kept in the back of her mind.</p>
<p>“You did good today.  Need to work on your hips a bit more when it comes to your kicks though.  Maybe something you can practice with Steve?”  Natasha suggested, raising an eyebrow at her.  </p>
<p>“I’ll keep that in mind,” Celia replied carefully, knowing she’d do no such thing.  She was not about to ask Steve to help her with her hips.  That was a level of awkward they did not need to fall into again.</p>
<p>“We should probably get him to start joining us.  If you’re going to be a super soldier, you should probably train with one,” Natasha said, stretching forward to grab her toes with ease.</p>
<p>“I don’t see myself ever being considered a super soldier,” Celia scoffed.  They still weren’t sure about all of her changes yet, but they could tell she wasn’t completely normal anymore.  Obviously not, with the healing thing and the nail, but other things were coming to the surface as well.  Celia wasn’t a stranger to working out, but she could pass her previous limits now without even realizing it.
That was still a far cry from being anywhere near Steve’s league.</p>
<p>“He’d go easy on you,” Natasha chuckled.</p>
<p>“Oh, I know that.  He’d go too easy on me,” Celia snorted, shaking her head.  “I need someone who’s not afraid to go hard on me.”</p>
<p>“Interesting word choice,” Natasha noted with a sly smile.</p>
<p>“Don’t start with that,” Celia groaned, rolling to her feet.  She was dodging relationship jokes from Tony left and right, she didn’t need it from Natasha too.  “I gotta go meet with Craig.”</p>
<p>“Sure you do,” Natasha snickered, waving her off.  Celia rolled her eyes, getting on the elevator to take her to the clinic.  Craig was hired on to manage the clinic, to let the doctors and nurses focus on patients instead of everything else.  His office was going to be right next to hers and she’d been chatting with him whenever they bumped into each other.</p>
<p>“Celia!”  Craig called out as soon as she stepped off the elevator.  “Guess what finally came in today?”</p>
<p>“Your first paycheck?”  Celia guessed, letting Craig lead her excitedly through the halls.</p>
<p>“Even better.  The new desk chairs!”  Craig squealed.  An honest to God squeal.</p>
<p>“That’s better?”  Celia asked, bewildered.</p>
<p>“You’ll understand once you’ve tried it,” Craig assured her, steering her into his office.  The chair looked nice, but it was still just a desk chair.  “Go on, try it out.”</p>
<p>“I’m kind of gross,” Celia pointed out, gesturing to her sweaty gym clothes.</p>
<p>“Angus won’t mind, he can handle it,” Craig said, gently herding her toward the chair.</p>
<p>“You named it?”  Celia snorted, looking over at him like he’d lost his mind.  She was going to get along with this guy just fine.</p>
<p>“Just sit already,” Craig grumbled, pointing to the seat.  Celia complied, sinking down into the buttery leather.  Okay, this was nice.  “It can heat and cool, as well as massage.  I think I’m going to lease out my apartment and live in this.”</p>
<p>“You’re ridiculous,” Celia laughed, reluctantly pulling herself back up.  That was a chair she could see herself falling asleep in, but that would be a disaster with a witness.</p>
<p>“Once you form a bond with your own chair, you’ll understand,” Craig said, sitting down now that the seat was free.  “Now get out of here.  I have some very important research to do.”  He picked up the little remote attached to the arm and started pressing buttons, making the chair come alive.  Celia left him alone in his office, moaning dramatically.  She shook her head and smiled, hoping all of her colleagues were as great as Craig.  Celia usually got along with her coworkers, but it helped before that they usually didn’t get a lot of facetime with each other. </p>
<p>She decided to stop off at her office before going back up to shower, to see if there was anything else new waiting for her.  Unfortunately there was something waiting for her.  More like someone.</p>
<p>“Pretty nice setup you got here,” Fury said, staring at her from her brand new chair.  She didn’t like it as much anymore for some reason.</p>
<p>“The chair is new,” Celia said, not knowing what else to say in the moment.</p>
<p>“A lot of new things,” Fury observed, running his fingers along the keyboard on the desk in front of him.  She could’ve just walked right back out the door.  Nothing was stopping her, except her pride and maybe a bit of curiosity.  And a stubborn streak a mile long that never let her back down from a fight anymore.</p>
<p>“The whole floor has been under construction.  I can show you around if you’d like?”  Celia offered, knowing that wasn’t what the man had been talking about, but feeling an overwhelming need to be as unhelpful and contrary as possible.</p>
<p>“The floor is not what I’m interested in.”</p>
<p>“Oh well, if that’s your way of asking me out on a date, I’ll have to respectfully decline.”</p>
<p>“I think you’ve been hanging around Stark too much.”</p>
<p>“I’ll pass along the compliment.”</p>
<p>“I don’t remember you acting like this during our last meeting.  Has something changed?”</p>
<p>“Getting abducted can do funny things to a girl.  It can make her less willing to deal with bullshit.”</p>
<p>“You know, I didn’t actually come here to fight.”</p>
<p>“Really?  Then why didn’t you call?  Is sneaking into a person’s office the normal way of doing things?”</p>
<p>“Did you need some time to prepare your story?”</p>
<p>“Oh, you’ll have to excuse me.  I forgot Shield is all about the art of the ambush.  The broken jaw I received from one of your agents must’ve messed with my memory.”  By this point Celia was screaming at herself to stop making things worse, but she couldn’t.  Maybe Tony really was a bad influence?</p>
<p>“You seem fine to me.”</p>
<p>“And how is Agent Miller?”  Celia asked, hoping he was still feeling the effects of whatever Steve had done to him.  She’d asked him about it, but all he’d said was it wasn’t enough.</p>
<p>“That situation is being handled internally,” Fury brushed off, meaning probably a slap on the wrist and a transfer.  Celia tried not to feel bitter about it, since she was used to people skating by without consequence, but the thought of it still sucked.  She was pretty sure Shield wouldn’t have been pleased if she had tried to defend herself more aggressively, since after her change she may have been able to do some damage.</p>
<p>“That’s comforting.  So I should expect to see him at the next Shield company BBQ?”  Celia asked.</p>
<p>“What makes you think you’ll be invited?”</p>
<p>“I’m sure I can scam my way into being a plus one for at least one of the team,” Celia said with a cocky grin.  “That’s what this is really about, right?  Me trying to infiltrate my way onto the team for nefarious reasons?  Gosh, you really don’t have faith in your people if you think I would be able to trick all of them so easily.”</p>
<p>“I like to know who I’m dealing with.  I’m sure you can appreciate that,” Fury snapped, evidently tired of this back and forth.  Celia couldn’t let down the act though.  Being on offense was much better than being on defense.</p>
<p>“Well, we can’t always get what we want.  At least according to the song.”</p>
<p>“You’re making this harder than it needs to be!”</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m so sorry.  Exactly how am I supposed to be responding to you?”</p>
<p>“You could start by showing me some respect.”  Celia didn’t mean to, but she started laughing at that.  Actually it was more of a cackle, and it was pretty ugly.</p>
<p>“It’s so funny how everyone demands respect, but don’t do anything to earn it.  What makes you think I owe you anything?”</p>
<p>“If you expect-”</p>
<p>“I spent the first 22 years of my life being controlled, having other people do whatever they wanted and being forced to grin and bear it.  Forgive me if I’m less accepting of authoritative bullshit these days.  So how about you just ask me what you want to ask me and I’ll decide if you get the answers you’re looking for,” Celia hissed.  She didn’t know Fury very well, but she thought she caught the barest hint of surprise cross over his features.</p>
<p>“Actually, I think I just got them,” Fury smirked, pushing back and standing up from her chair.</p>
<p>“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”  Celia demanded.  Was the fighting over?  When had that happened?</p>
<p>“I figure someone trying to infiltrate their way in would probably try to make a better impression than that,” Fury said, walking over to stand in front of her.</p>
<p>“Was that your way of calling me a bitch?”  Celia asked, raising an eyebrow.</p>
<p>“I’d probably lean more toward asshole,” Fury said casually.  Damn, was she actually starting to like the guy?  Why was Celia considering that a term of endearment from him?</p>
<p>“I’m really not planning anything devious here.  I think we’re all just doing the best we can with the circumstances we’ve found ourselves in,” Celia sighed, stepping aside so she wasn’t blocking the door.</p>
<p>“We’ll see,” Fury said simply, tipping his head at her slightly.</p>
<p>“You’ll know where to find me,” Celia replied, aching to get the last word, as petty as it was.  “Come back if you need some work done.  I’ve heard I have good hands.”  Fury didn’t say anything to that, striding off with his long coat swaying behind him.  How he snuck around anywhere looking like that was a mystery.</p>
<p>“Who was that?”  Craig asked, coming into her office after giving Fury a wide berth.</p>
<p>“Just my textiles guy.  Thinking about putting in a soothing wall hanging in here,” Celia brushed off, moving over to finally try out her new chair.  She’d need to have Tony come down soon and do a sweep of the area, just to make sure Fury didn’t stick some sort of spyware in here.  She didn’t get this far being naive.</p>
<p>“So, what’s the verdict?”  Craig asked, leaning against her desk.</p>
<p>“No complaints.”</p>
<p>“Gonna name it?”  Celia chuckled, tilting her head to relax against the headrest.</p>
<p>“I think I’ll name it, Furioso.”</p>
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